The present invention is related to a double-lockable baggage case meeting the regulation of U.S. customs, and more particularly to a complex double-lockable/unlockable lock device mounted on a baggage case or the like, including both numeral wheel system and key-driven system for controlling locking/unlocking of the baggage case.
The conventional locking apparatuses include numeral system and key-driven system. The numeral system includes numeral wheel type and press key type. These locking apparatuses are widely applied to various daily articles. For example, Taiwanese Patent Nos. 32470 and 46563 and Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 498918, entitled “hanging lock structure (5)” and Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 369068, entitled “hanging lock structure” respectively disclose locking apparatuses pertaining to numeral system and key-driven system applicable to baggage case or suitcase. Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 188528, entitled “belt numeral lock” and Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 457855, entitled “fastener structure of fastening strap of an appliance” disclose numeral locks combined with fastening straps of baggage case or suitcase.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a typical baggage case or the like 10. The main lock device 11 of the baggage case 10 generally has a numeral wheel system 12 and a key-driven system 13 which together control the locking/unlocking of the baggage case 10. Referring to FIG. 2, several male fasteners 14 are fixed on the other side of the baggage case 10. The male fasteners 14 can be latched in several latch members 121, 131 of the main lock device 11 to lock the baggage case 10. Only when the main lock device 11 is unlocked to permit the latch members 121, 131 to horizontally displace, the baggage case 10 is unlocked.
Practically, it is known that when checked by U.S. customs workers, in case it is found the customs workers that the contents of the baggage case or suitcase are suspicious, the customs workers are authorized by U.S. government to forcedly break off the lock of the baggage case or suitcase and open the same for checking the contents. The damaged lock will be a loss of a user and will lead to trouble and inconvenience to the user, especially during travel. With respect to the baggage case with hard casing, it is hard to modify the design of the body of the baggage case so that the above problem can be hardly overcome.
In order to improve the above situation, U.S. government and customs regulate that the lock manufacturers must provide a standard key for the customs for opening all the locks manufactured by the manufacturers. According to this regulation, some lock manufacturers provide a design for those baggage cases with hard casings. That is, a small box is added to the baggage case, in which a key or unlocking code for unlocking the main lock device 11 is accommodated. The small box is openable by a set key. The lock manufacturers must provide the set key for the customs. In case it is found the customs workers that the contents of the baggage case are suspicious, the customs workers can use the set key to open the small box and take out the key therein for unlocking the main lock device. The above procedure is troublesome. Moreover, the small box itself or the key or the code for unlocking the main lock device 11 may miss during the travel.